Illumination Entertainment
Natalie Fischer (COO) | industry = Film | productions = Films | owners = NBCUniversal (Comcast Corporation) | num_employees = 35 (2012) 300 (Illumination Mac Guff) (2012) | parent = Universal Studios | mascot = Gru's Minions Link Tetra | subsid = Illumination Mac Guff }} Illumination Entertainment is an American film production company, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. It has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Studios and it is based in Santa Monica, California. The company is best known for its 2010 animated feature Despicable Me, which was the first film by the company. Its sequel, Despicable Me 2 was released on July 3, 2013, and its spin-off Minions is set for release on July 10, 2015. Illumination is producing The Wind Waker movie set for release on April 15, 2016, followed by Phantom Hourglass in 2018. Two more sequels have also been planned with Spirit Tracks and Four Swords Adventures. Tetra is one of the official mascots of the CGI animation company Illumination Animation Studios, the second being Link around the release of The Wind Waker movie and the first being the minions from the Despicable Me movies. History Illumination Entertainment was founded in early 2007 by Chris Meledandri, the executive producer of the first two Ice Age films and Horton Hears a Who!. Illumination Entertainment merged into Universal Pictures in 2008. Their first feature film was Despicable Me which was released in 2010 and distributed by Universal. It has since then been solely focused on animated features. In 2011, Illumination's second film Hop was released in theaters on April 1, 2011, with a blend of live-action and CGI animation. In the summer of 2011, Mac Guff as the old animation company has a two splits from the visual effects the new company named "Illumination Mac Guff" is the all new animation studios. [http://www.societe.com/societe/illumination-mac-guff-533478434.html Juridic informations about Illumination Mac Guff] In 2012, Illumination's third and upcoming film The Lorax was released in theaters on March 2, 2012, based on the Dr. Seuss book. In 2013, Despicable Me 2 was released in theaters on July 3, 2013. Following this, a spin-off based on the Minions is expected to be released on July 10, 2015, an untitled original animated film, scheduled for February 12, 2016, an adaptation of The Wind Waker, scheduled for April 15, 2016 and Phantom Hourglass, scheduled for April 6, 2018. Two more sequels have also been planned with The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. Filmography Feature films Released films Upcoming films Films in development Short films Gallery Illumination_Xmas_Logo2.jpg|Christmas logo illumination_ent.jpg|The logo as seen in their website Illumination-entertainment-logo-300x152.jpg|Alternate logo GW249H141.jpg|''Despicable Me'' (2010) GW229H141.jpg|''Hop'' (2011) Illumination 03.jpg|''Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'' (2012) GW270H144.jpg|''Despicable Me 2'' (2013) Illumination Entertainment Wind Waker logo.jpg|''The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker'' (2016) IE Tetra.jpg|The Illumination Entertainment logo featuring Tetra IE Link.jpg|The Illumination Entertainment logo featuring Link Trivia *The Minions from Despicable Me eventually become Illumination's mascots. References External links *Wikipedia article *Official website *Illumination Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database Category:Companies Category:Illumination Entertainment